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"A  'N  '••"»•*$ 


AMERICAN  PROGRESS— JUDGE  DOUGLAS— THE  PRESIDENCY. 


SPEECH 


«T -a  *<*<* 

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MR,  MARSHALL,  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

A  // 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  MARCH  11,  1852, 


REPLY  TO  THE  SPEECH  OF  MR.  BRECKINRIDGE,  OF  KENTUCKY. 


The  House  being  in  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  ; 
of  the  Union,  on  the  bill  to  encourage  agriculture,  manufac- 
tures,  and  other  branches  of  industry,  by  granting  home-  ; 
steads  to  actual  settlers  upon  the  public  domain — and  in 
regard  to  the  Presidency,  American  progress,  and  in  de- 
fense of Judge  DOCGLAS — 

Mr.  MARSHALL  said: 

Mr.  CHAIRMAN:  It  is  not  my  purpose  to-day  to 
discuss  the  special  order  in  committee,  although  j 
that  is  a  measure  in  which  J  take  much  interest,  and  j 
which  I  believe  is  of  great  importance  to  the  coun-  : 
try.  But,  sir,  there  has  been  delivered  upon  the  j 
floor  of  this  House,  by  a  distinguished  gentleman  j 
from  Kentucky,  [Mr.  BRECKixRiDGE,]andamem-  j 
ber  of  the  Democratic  party,  a  speech  containing  | 
sentiments  wholly  at  variance  with  those  I  enter-  j 
tain.  From  the  conclusions  to  which  the  honor-  j 
able  gentleman  has  come,  I  am  forced  to  dissent,  ! 
and  the  insinuations  as  to  matters  of  fact  (for  the  j 
gentleman  says  he  makes*  no  charges  or  accusa-  j 
tions)  have  been  already  demonstrated  to  be  un-  j 
founded  and  false.  There  are  many  circumstances  j 
which  compel  me  to  make  some  response  to  this 
speech,  though  there  is  no  member  of  this  House  ! 
more  unwilling  unnecessarily  to  occupy  the  time  ! 
Dr  the  committee  than  I  < 


of  the  House  or  the  committee 


am.      No 


member  of  this  House  can  more  sincerely  regret  i 
that  the  debate  has  taken  this  course,  or  that  it  has  ! 
arisen  at  all;  no  one  deprecates  more  the  conse-  j 
cjuences  which  may,  a/id  probably  will,  flow  from 
it  to  the  party,  than  myself.  Yet  the  attack  made  > 
upon  the  individual  who  is,  I  believe,  the  favorite  i 
of  the  peeple,  and  who  I  know  is  the  nominee  of  | 
tny  constituents  for  the  Presidency,  and  the  attack  ! 
upon  those  principles  which  I  regard  as  the  life- 
blood  of  American  Democracy,  and  to  which  my  { 
constituency  owes  its  existence,  calls  imperatively  j 
for  some  reply, 

I  believe  that  discussion  of  this  character  should 
not  be  introduced  upon  this  floor,  so  long  as  there 
is  a  single  great  measure  of  public  policy  not  com- 
pleted,— so  long  as  there  is  a  single  bill  which 
ought  to  pass  not  acted  upon,  so  long  as  there  is 
a  single  private  claim  against  the  Government  not 
adjudicated.  I  think  all  discussions  of  this  sort 
are  wrong  under  existing  circumstances;  but  I  do 
not  propose  that  those  who  do  the  wrong  shall 
enjoy  all  the  advantage,  and  I  would  rather  con- 


sume one  hour  of  the  time  of  the  committee,  than 
permit  a  speech  containing  such  political  doctrines, 
or  such  personal  insinuations  as  that  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  Kentucky,  [Mr.  BRECKIKRIDGE,]  to 
go  forth  to  the  country,  even  with  the  negative 
i  indorsement  of  my  silence.     I  regret  this  debate, 
j  because  of  its  probable  effect  on  the  Democratic 
i  party,  and  of  certain  waste  of  the  public  time.    It 
i  was  prophesied  once  (and  really  that  prophecy 
!  seems  approaching  fulfillment)  by  one  of  the  most 
|  learned,  acute,  and  thoughtful  of  all  foreign  cpm- 
I  mentators  upon  our  country  and  its  Constitution, 
I  that  the  very  thing  which  is  now  happening  would 
j  happen — that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
j  would  cease  to  discharge  its  constitutional  func- 
i  tions  as  the  legislative  power  of  the  nation,  and 
j  would  become,  (what  it  has  not  yet  become,  but 
j  what  I  fear  it  is  approaching,)  a  mere  factious,  dis- 
;  cordant,  ill-balanced,  inefficient  caucus  of  presi- 
dential electors.      But  while  I  deprecate  such  a 
result,  and  deplore  even  the  small  share  1  have  in 
bringing  it  about,  I  must  insist  that  all  the  respon- 
sibility rests  with  those  who  have  induced  the  ne- 
cessity for  further  argument. 

The  State  of  California,  which  I  have  the  honor 
to  represent,  in  part,  upon  this  floor,  is  the  greatest 
result  of  Democratic  principles  and  the  perfect 
illustration  of  Democratic  progress.  That  State 
owes  its  very  existence  to  the  doctrines  at  which 
the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  permits  himself  to 
sneer,  a  doctrine  upon  which  he  turns  all  his  sar- 
casm, but  to  which  headdresses  no  argument,  and 
against  which  he  has  adduced  not  one  clear  and 
manly  reason.  He  did  not  venture  to  state  the 
question  in  any  fair  or  intelligible  propositions, 
nor  did  he  dare  to  meet  the  conclusions  logically 
resulting  from  such  a  statement.  I  should  not, 
then,  represent  my  people  if  1  were  to  permit  the 
very  principles  to  whirh  they  owe  their  political 
existence  to  be  made  the  subject-matter  for  ridi- 
cule and  scoffing  in  speeches  in  the  House  without 
reply.  But,  further  than  that,  there  has  come  up 
from  the  people  of  California  one  unanimous, 
universal,  spontaneous  expression  of  opinion  in 
j  favor  of  Judge  DOUGLAS  as  the  Democratic  candi- 
,  date  for  the  Presidency,  and  I  should  not  represent 
'  my  people  if  I  were  to  allow  an  attack — for  the 
whole  speech  was  an  attack — a  most  subtle,  covert, 

JTH- 


and  formidable  attack,  in  its  spirit  and  tendency  j'  inuendo,  and  had  not  gone  on  to  rail  at  and  ridi- 
throughout — upon  Judge  DOUGLAS,  and  the  prin-  il  cule  opinions  held  by  nearly  all  the  intelligent  men 
ciple  upon  which  his  popularity  rests,  to  pass  '  of  the  party  and  the  nation,  if  he  had  not  proceed- 
unanswered.  I  am  for  these  reasons,  forced  to  i  ed  to  lay  down  a  platform  upon  which  not  one 


ciple  upon  which  his  popularity  rests,  to  pass  ||  of  the' party  and  the'nation',  if  he  had  not"proceed- 

sons,  forced  to  i  ed  to  lay  down  a  platform  upon  which  not  one 

respond,  at  least,  so  far  as  a  clear  and  distinct  ex-  j  fourth  of  the  party  could  take  position,  I  would 
pressipn  of  my  own  views  and  opinions  are  con-  !  have  had  nothing  tn  aav.  if.  when  he  had  VUM- 


cerned. 


The  nomination  of  Judge  DOUGLAS  by  the  State  i 
of  California  is  an  event  of  the  highest  import,  of 
the  greatest  significance,  and  requires  from  the 
Democratic  party  in  Congress,  and  in  the  nation, 


have  had  nothing  to  say;  if,  when  he  had 
nounced  a  panegyric  upon  General  Butler  wMch- 
ranked  him  with  heroes  and  demi-gods,  he  had 
gone  no  further — if  when  he  had  painted  with  a 
most  accomplished  and  masterly  hand  a  portrait 
which  all  would  admire  as  beautiful,  but  which 


a  graver  consideration,  and  higher  respect,  than  li  no  one  could  recognize — if  the  subject  had  been 

1  suffered  to  rest  with  this  eulogy,  and  the  gentle- 
man would  have  been  content  to  free  his  friend 
from  all  imputations,  and  leave  him  raised  above 
all  anxiety  and  almost  all  human  interest  or  pas- 
sion, and  not  proceeded  to  degrade  others,  I  should 
have  had  nothing  to  say.  But  he  did  not  stop. 
His  graceful  and  artistic  declamation  upon  the 
Democracy  and  general  character  and  services  of 
that  distinguished  citizen  forms  a  very  small  part 
of  his  speech,  and  is  well-nigh  forgotten  in  the 
more  striking  effects  of  those  offensive  portions 
which  give  its  true  intent  and  genuine  spirits. 
The  gentleman  takes  up  two  articles  which  have 
appeared  in  the  Democratic  Review,  one  of  which 
contains  only  an  abstract  discussion  on  general 


any  other  mere  State  nomination  could  possibly 
receive.  Look  at  the  population  of  that  country. 
There  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union,  not  a  city,  vil- 
lage, or  neighborhood,  which  is  not  represented 
there;  a  nomination,  therefore,  from  such  a  State 
is  the  highest  evidence  and  best  criterion  of  na- 
tional popularity.  No  nomination  from  any  other 
State  carries  with  it  the  same  authority,  for  upon 
every  other  State  local  interests,  State  pride,  and 
the  thousand  indirect  influences  which  control  hu- 
man action,  are  brought  to  bear.  California  is  a 
great  national  convention,  composed  of  the  best 
material,  men  proven  by  the  test  of  emigration  to 
be  the  best,  upon  whom  no  sinister  or  selfish  mo- 
tive could  possibly  operate — it  is  a  great  unpacked , 
uninfluenced,  disinterested 


k  J.B  a  grcai  uupnujxcu,      cuiiuuns    omy  ail    ausiraci    uiSCUSSJOU    Oil  £ 

national  convention,  'j  principles,  which  heconstrues  into  an  attacl 


There  was  no  bargaining  for  the  position  of  Sec-  ||  the  tried  and  standard  men  of  the  party;  the  other 
retary  of  State,  then,  for  California  knows  that  j  being  in  fact  an  assertion  of  the  same  principles 
except  the  offices  within  her  own  limits,  she  has  j  contained  in  the  first,  and  an  application  of  those 
no  hope  of  Executive  patronage.  Being,  then,  the  j  principles  to  General  Butler,  demonstrating  the 
fullest  and  fairest  national  convention,  and  the!  unfitness  of  his  nomination  to  be  made  by  the  con- 
best  exponent  of  national  sentiment,  I  claim  for  vention.  He  proceeds  to  comment  upon  these 
her  expression  of  opinion  in  favor  of  Judge  DOUG-  j  articles,  but  does  not  controvert  or  even  state  fair- 
LAS — unanimous  as  it  is,  so  far  as  it  has  been  ex-  j  ly  and  intelligibly  a  single  principle  they  contain, 
pressed,  and  enthusiastic  as  I  know  the  feelings  of  I  or  deny,  as  sound  political  doctrine,  any  notion 
that  people  to  be  towards  him,  from  a  personal  jj  which  is  contained  in  the  Review.  The  facts 


acquaintance  with  almost  every  Democrat  in  the 
State — 1  say  claim  for  it  before  this  House  and 
the  country,  a  high  authority,  infinitely  transcend- 
ing any  similar  expression  of  opinion  in  any  other 
State. 

Sir,  I  shall  not  lose'any  portion  of  my  time  in 
reading  extracts  from  the  speech  of  the  gentleman  j 
from  Kentucky,  but  I  shall  content  myself  with  a  I 


charged  he  pronounces  false,  but  does  not  even 
attempt  to  prove  them  so,  and  contents  himself 
with  denouncing  the  editor  of  the  Review  and  the 
whole  character  of  the  publication,  without  meas- 
ure or  moderation. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  If  the  gentleman  will 
allow  me  for  a  moment.  My  friend  from  Cali- 
fornia says,  that  not  one  fact  charged  directly,  or 


short  and  simple  statement  of  its  general  effect,  jj  by  implication,  against  General  Butler,  or' any 

other  candidate  in  the  Review,  did  I  deny.  I  did 
not,  sir,  except  in  general  terms.  My  time  did 
not  suffice  to  go  into  detail.  I  pronounced  the 
statements  in  the  February  number  untrue.  I  re- 
peat now  the  general  statement,  and  I  substitute  il 
for  a  particular  denial  of  every  charge. 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  That  is  but  a  confirmation 
of  what  I  have  said,  and  is  precisely  what  I  stated 
the  gentleman's  position  to  be.  He  did  not  meet 
the  reasoning  of  the  Review,  and  did  not  disprove 
its  facts.  It  is  a  periodical  in  which  I  feel  no  spe- 
cial interest,  except  so  far  as  it  is  a  bold  and  ably 
edited  paper.  But  in  connection  with  his  denun- 
ciation of  the  article,  and  the  editor,  he  most 
adroitly,  and  with  the  skill  of  a  special  pleader, 
insinuates  that  Judge  DOUGLAS,  in  whose  interest 
he  assumes  the  R-eview  to  beris  responsible  for  its 
course.  These  insinuations — for  the  gentleman 
denies  having  made  any  charge — have  been  met 
and  refuted  by  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,  [Mr. 
RICHARDSON;]  but  whether  the  effect  has  been 
done  away  or  not,  is  another  question  which  re- 
mains yet  to  be  decided.  The  gentleman's  motive 


and  the  purpose  it  was  intended  to  carry  out.  And 
here  I  desire  to  say,  and  to  be  well  understood  when 
I  say,  that  I  intend  on  this  floor,  as  everywhere 
else,  10  say  exactly  what  I  think,  and  exactly 
what  I  mean,  and  1  hope  it  will  be  no  anomaly  in 
a  politician's  life,  or  in  a  political  speech.     1  in- 
tend to  tell  what  I   believe  to   be  the  truth — the  || 
result  of  my  own  observation  and  experience,  and  ij 
the  conclusion  of  my  own  reasonings.     For  what  i| 
I  am  saying  now  nobody  is  responsible  but  my-  ! 
self.     I  express  my  own  opinions.     I  speak  for  h 
no  section  of  the  Democratic  party.     But  1  speak  ii 
merely  what  I  believe,  and  upon  my  own  respon-  •' 
sibility,  to  my  constituents.     Nobody  has  any  'I 
connection  with  or  control  over  me,  and  1  do  not  jj 
intend  anyboxly  shall  get  into   any  scrape  on  ac- 
count  of  imprudences  1  m«y  be  about  to  commit. 
I  say  this  in  advance  that  I  may  not  injure  a  good  \\ 
cause  by  injudicious  advocacy. 

The  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky 
commenced  with  a  thin  and  transparent  affectation 
of  a  defense  of  General  Butler  !  A  defense  of  Gen- 
eral Butler  !  If  the  gentleman  had  forborne  to 
attack  others  of  his  own  party  by  implication  and  [  in  mating  that  speech  is  aa  "clear  as  day-light. 


Everybody  can  see  for  what  purpose  it  was  made.  ; 
Every  one  can  tell  precisely  the  course  of  consult-  ; 
ation  and  agreement  which  that  speech  carried  out. ' 
The  article  to  which  it  pretends  to  be  an  answer, 
attacked   the   principles   of  all   those   candidates  i 
whom  the  gentleman  had  characterized  as  the  tried  ; 
and  standard  men  of  the  Democratic  party.     It  | 
was    a  doctrinal    article — eminently   so — which  i 
attacked  the  principles  of  those  who  have  been  de- 
nominated, and  correctly  so,  "  old  fogies."    Yes, 
sir;  and  there  are  lots  of  "old  fogies" — candidates 
for  the  Presidency — in  the  Democratic  party.  And 
I  am  obliged  to  admit,  what  I  wish  to  Heaven  I  , 
could  deny,  that  these  "old  fogies  "have  friends —  ; 
active,  energetic  friends — drawn  to  their  support 
by  State  pride,  the  patronage  of  the  Presidency, 
arid  other  influences,  and  although  not  particularly  , 
strong,  individually,  yet  collectively,  they  appear 
formidable.     Yet,  sir,  all  these  influences  are  not 
sufficiently  national    to  give  any  one  a  proper 
prestige  for  the  presidential  office.     The  Demo-  j 
cratic  candidate  for  that  office  must  personify  the 
idea  of  national  progress.  Yet  the  gentleman  from 
Kentucky,  who,  from  his  instincts  and  age,  ought 
to  be  a  friend  of  progress,  and  sympathise  with 
the  great  national  feeling,  and  whose  enthusiasm 
would  be  becoming  in  this  connection,  is  selected 
to  make  this  attack,  and  to  carry  out  the  "  old 
fogy"  notions. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  The  gentleman  is  mis- 
taken in  point  of  fact. 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Everybody  can  see  how 
this  thing  occurred.  These  "  old  fogies"  are  as 
much  at  war  with  one  another  as  they  are  with 
Judge  Douglas.  They  considered  the  attack 
upon  their  principles  in  the  Review  as  fatal  to  the 
whole  system  of  "  old  fogyism"  and  the  claims  of 
all  of  its  representatives;  and  I  must  be  permitted  to 
hope  that  their  apprehensions  are  founded  on  good 
reason.  The  friends  of  these  candidates  saw  at 
once  that  this  attack  might  be  made  a  bond  of  union 
among  them,  and  seeing  that  Judge  Douglas  was 
the  second  choice  of  everybody,  and  the  first  choice 
of  very  many,  determined,  by  a  combination,  to 
defeat  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  candidates,  and 
to  distract  and  destroy  the  whole  Democratic 
party;  and  in  the  execution  of  this  design,  they 
steal  the  legitimate  thunder  of  young  America  for 
the  purpose  of  breaking  down  and  crushing  the  [ 
hopes  of  young  America.  That  task  could  have  ] 
been  more  fitly  assigned  to  other  hands.  There  is 
a  gentleman  in  this  House,  and  high  up  in  this 
House,  a  friend  of  General  Butler,  an  old  friend 
and  messmate  of  General  Butler,  and  an  older 
man,  though  not  an  older  fogy,  than  the  young 
gentleman  from  Kentucky.  [Laughter.]  What 
a  tribute  it  is,  then,  to  young  America  that  when 
there  had  to  fie  something  done,  bold,  dashing, 
adroit,  and  adventurous,  and  an  assault  made,  in- 
tended to  be  mortal,  that  the  "  old  fogies"  take  the 
back-ground  and  intrust  this  attack  to  a  younger  , 
gentleman 's  hands.  None  of  them  will  put  them- ! 
selves  in  view,  but  put  young  America  forward  to 
make  the  attack.  I  say  it  is  a  high  tribute  to  young  , 
blood  and  young  energy  when  an  old  and  rotten 
cause  leans  upon  it  for  support. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  I  do  not  wish  to  in- ; 
terrupt  the  gentleman's  strain  of  eloquence,  but  I  | 
desire  simply  to  say  that  the  gentleman  is  mistaken  \ 
when  he  supposes  that  my  remarks  were  the  result  j 
of  any  arrangement  and  consultation  with  the  j 


friends  of  anybody.  I  say  further  that  I  have  not 
been  put  forward  in  this  House  by  anybody,  and 
if  I  know  myself  1  am  not  a  man  to  be  thrust 
forward  by  any  who  might  wish  to  put  me  in  the 
breach,  and  themselves  remain  in  the  background. 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  I  do  not  know  but  it  may 
be  in  accordance  with  his  inclination  and  his  in- 
terest to  take  this  particular  position,  because  if 
General  Butler  should  by  any  accident  be  elected 
President — and  I  allude  now  to  motives  which 
operate  more  or  less  upon  all  politicians,  except 
those  who  come  from  California,  [laughter,]  be- 
cause they  cannot  get  anything,  and  they  know 
that  they  have  no  chance,  and  do  not  look  to  pat- 
ronage— I  say  there  is  nothing  more  natural  than, 
if  General  Butler  should  be  President,  there  being 
the  office,  the  very  respectable  and  dignified  office, 
of  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States — and 
that  office  runs  in  the  family  of  the  young  and 
distinguished  representative  from  Kentucky,  [Mr. 
BRECKIN-RIDGE,]  his  grandfather  having  filled  it — 
I  say  there  is  nothing  more  natural  than  that  such 
appointment  should  be  made;  and  when  you 
couple  with  that,  the  further  consideration  that  the 
gentleman  is  the  first  Democrat  that  has  ever  come 
i  from  his  district  to  Congress,  and  that  the  tenure 
of  his  office  is  said  not  to  be  a  life  tenure,  it  is  not 
unnatural  that  he  should  assume  this  task.  [Laugh- 
ter.] 1  have  observed  with  some  attention  the 
political  life  of  the  honorable  young  gentleman, 
and  I  have  examined  it  with  the  more  care  since 
he  has  assumed  his  present  position  in  this  presi- 
dential contest,  and  I  am  sorry  that  so  young  a 
politician  should  be  involved  so  early  in  contradic- 
tions and  embarrassments  so  manifest.  I  would 
rather,  upon  my  honor,  undertake  to  defend  the 
inconsistencies  of  General  Cass,  or  Mr.  Buchanan, 
than  those  of  that  young  gentleman. 

Mr.  PENN,  (interrupting.)  Will  the  gentle- 
man allow  me  to  ask  a  question  ? 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Not  at  this  time.  I  know 
what  the  question  is,  and  will  give  you  an  appro- 
priate place  to  put  it  in  directly.  There  was  an 
exhibition  in  his  native  State  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  outbreaks,  they  tell  me,  of  this  prin- 
ciple of  progress  which  the  gentleman  now  op- 
poses and  ridicules:  one  of  the  most  complete  and 
radical  reforms,  the  widest  departure  from  estabr 
lished  law  and  time-honored  usage,  that  has  ever 
been  attempted  in  the  United  States — a  change  in 
the  constitution,  which  the  "old  fogies"  and  con- 
servatives of  all  parties  predicted  would  overturn 
the  constitution  of  society  and  reduce  it  to  univer- 
sal anarchy,  so  far  as  the  State  government  is  con- 
cerned— a  movement  which,  I  am  free  to  confess, 
with  all  my  progressive  notions,  I  thought  a 
dangerous  experiment.  But  it  was  popular,  and 
among  the  loudest  advocates  of  it,  among  the 
most  earnest  defenders  of  its  greatest  extrava- 
gances, was  the  gentleman  himself. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  Will  the  gentleman 
allow  me  to  interrupt  him  for  a  momenF?  I  have 
been  and  am  in  favor  of  Democratic  progress,  as 
accomplished  by  changes  introduced  into  the  State 
constitutions  and  also  in  the  General  Government, 
within  the  limits  and  according  to  the  spirit  of  the 
compact.  I  was  in  favor  of  the  new  constitution 
of  Kentucky,  which  popularizes  the  institutiens  of 
that  State.  My  remarks  on  progress  were  wholly 
incidental,  and  were  directed  to  that  sort  of  prog- 
ress which  the  tone  and  spirit  of  the  Democratic 


Review  indicated  as  proper  to  be  carried  out  through 
the  Federal  Government.  I  did  not  believe  the 
federal  compact,  under  our  limited  system  of  gov- 
ernment, could  be  used  for  any  such  purpose.  It 
is  limited,  it  is  fixed,  and  in  my  opinion  the  theo- 
ry and  limitations  of  our  federal  system  sprang 
perfect  from  the  Convention  at  Philadelphia  like 
Pallas  from  the  head  of  Jove.  The  distinction  I 
take  is  broad  and  striking.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment is  not  formed  on  the  notion  of  a  pure  democ- 
racy, nor  even  of  a  simple  representative  system. 
Hence,  though  in  favor  of  an  elective  judiciary  for 
Kentucky,  I  would  oppose  the  application  of  that 
principle  to  the  Federal  judiciary.  I  cannot  now 
enlarge,  but  I  consider  the  opposite  view  as  tend- 
ing directly  and  fatally  to  consolidation.  These 
remarks  apply  to  the  new  ideas  of  federal  prog- 
ress. They  do  not  touch  the  question  of  the  ex- 
tension of  our  country.  I  was  in  favor  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  the  Mexican  war,  and  the 
acquisitions  that  grew  out  of  it. 

Mi-.  MARSHALL.  I  desire  to  ask  the  gentle- 
man from  Kentucky  a  question  in  this  connection. 
It  is  rumored,  and  the  rumor,  if  false,  ought  to  be 
contradicted — I  am  not  prepared  with  evidence  to 
prove  the  fact,  but  merely  suggest  the  question — it 
is  rumored  here  that  there  was  a  large  and  influen- 
tial Taylor  meeting  held  in  1848,  aboutthree  months 
before  the  convention  met  for  the  nomination  of  the 
Democratic  candidates,  and  it  is  said  that  at  that 
meeting  a  young  gentleman  of  Kentucky  did  pro- 
nounce the  most  transcendent  and  glowing  eulogy, 
did  give  to  the  country  some  of  the  most  immortal 
eloquence  in  advocacy  of  General  Taylor's  claims, 
that  has  ever  been  heard  in  that  notoriously  elo- 
quent State  of  Kentucky.  Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE 
was  said  to  be  the  gentleman. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  If  the  gentleman 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Oh,  I  can't  give  you  time 
to  defend  yourself,  it  would  take  all  of  my  hour, 
and  more  hours  than  I  ever  mean  to  consume  upon 
this  floor,  to  defend  yourself  from  that  charge.  I 
want  to  know  if  the  charge  is  true:  did  you  make 
a  Taylor  speech  at  a  Taylor  meeting? 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE,  (rising.)  The  gentle- 
man is  too  fair  a  man  to  make  a  charge  and  not  al- 
low me  an  opportunity  to  reply.  I  will  answer  the 
question,  though  I  do  not  admire  the  taste  that 
prompts  it.  For  several  days  I  have  been  the 
object  of  various  attacks — friendly  attacks  how- 
ever. The  gentleman  from  Illinois  [Mr.  RICH- 
ARDSON] began  them,  and  the  gentleman  from 
California  follows  him.  I  understand  it  was  con- 
templated, by  one  or  two  persons^  to  prove,  if  pos- 
sible, that  I  was  a  Whig  at  one  time  of  my  life. 
It  is  not  true.  The  error  springs  from  the  fact 
that  the  republican  principles  skipped  one  genera- 


!  the  bank,  tariff,  internal  improvements,  and  other 
questions,  and  when  General  Taylor  had  answered 
that  letter,  indorsing  all  those  positions,  (and  mark 
it,  this  was  his  first  political  letter,)  there  was 
a  meeting  held  in  Lexington,  (in  which  I  partici- 
pated,) which  recommended  him  to  the  people 
for  the  Presidency.  The  best  Democrats  in  the 
country  also  took  part  in^that  meeting — indeed,  I 
think  they  composed  the'  majority  in  it.  After- 
wards, when  other  principles  were  avowed,  and 
when  he  was  taken  up  by  the  Whig  party  and  re- 
ceived the  nomination  of  the  Whig  convention,  I 
was  found  upon  the  right  side.  If  there  was  an 
error  committed,  \v5hich  I  deny  in  the  then  state 
of  facts,  why,  then,  I  say  in  the  language  of  a 
distinguished  Democrat,  who  was  also  in  that 
meeting,  "  that  it  was  the  only  political  error  of 
my  life."  [Laughter.] 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  The  explanation  is  about 
as  good  a  one  as  could  be  made  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, but  I  appeal  to  all  the  Democrats  of 
this  House,  and  tLrougbcr.it  the  country,  if  that 
gentleman  does  not  exhibit  conclusive  evidence 
that  in  party  tactics  he  should  follow,  and  not 
lead;  that  before  the  action  of  the  Convention  has 
regulated  his  judgment,  he  is  the  most  unsafe  ad- 
viser in  the  selection  of  candidates  that  could  pos- 
sibly be  consulted.  [Laughter.]  Does  he  not 
come,  with  an  admission  of  the  kind  which  he  has 
just  made,  admirably  recommended  to  the  Democ- 
racy of  this  country  as  one  of  its  leaders — partic- 
ularly as  one  of  its  advisers  upon  so  delicate  and 
momentous  a  question  as  that  which  he  has  un- 
dertaken to  decide. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  I  have  given  no  ad- 
vice about  the  Presidency,  and  I  challenge  the  gen- 
tleman to  point  out  the  place  where  I  have  done 
so. 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  I  said  in  the  opening  re- 
marks which  I  made,  that  I  should  not  quote  lit- 
erally from  the  gentleman's  speech — that  I  should 
not  respond  to  the  words  of  that  speech — that  it 
was  to  its  vital  spirit,  its  design,  malignant  to- 
wards an  individual,  and  ruinous  to  the  party  and 
the  country,  that  I  should  oppose  truth,  candor^ 
and  reason.  The  gentleman  is  very  adroit,  the 
speech  was  well  considered,  well  weighed,  mod- 
est, and  unpretending,  no  dictation  to  the  par- 
ty was  apparent  in  its  language,  but  its  effect 
was  to  unite  all  the  candidates  against  that  one 
known  to  be  most  popular — to  diffuse  suspicion 
and  distrust  throughout  the  Democracy  of  the 
Union,  and  to  elevate  General  Butler,  who  *liad 
not  a  living  chance  otherwise,  -into  the  second 
choice — the  compromise  candidate  of  the  conven- 
tion. Whatever  ulterior  views  the  gentleman  might 
have,  that  was  the  tendency,  and,  I  believe,  the 


tion  in  the  family.      Part  of  them  deflected  from  jj  intention  of  the  speech;  and  it  is  to  defeat  that  in- 


[Laughter.] 


the  right  line 
a  Whig. 

Mr.  RICHARDSON.  I  never  believed  the  gen- 
tleman to  be  a  Whig. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  I  did  not  say  my 
friend  from  Illinois  had  so  charged.  Indeed,!  know 
he  did  not.  In  reference  to  the  Taylor  demonstra- 
tion, the  meeting  to  which  thegentleman  from  Cal- 
ifornia refers,  took  place  in  the  summer  of  1847. 
Soon  after  General  Taylor  won  his  battles  upon 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  soon  after  the  editor  of  the 
"Cincinnati  Signal  "  had  written  him  a  letter,  in 
which  he  took  Democratic  ground  in  reference  to 


I  never  was  myself  |j  tention,  to  counteract  that  effort,  th*at  I  address  the 
committee  to-day.  And  I  will  now  ask  the  gentle- 
man from  Louisiana,  [Mr.  PENN,]  who  has  been 
so  anxious  to  catechise  me,  a  single  question.  I  ask 
him,  as  a  known  friend  of  Mr.  Buchanan — and  I 
hope  that  the  friends  of  other  candidates  will  not 
hesitate  to  answer,  as  if  the  same  question  were 
addressed  to  them,  for  it  is  addressed  generally — I 
ask  the  gentleman  from  Louisiana,  if  he  did  not 
hold  consultations  with  the  gentleman  from  Ken- 
tucky [Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE]  upon  the  speech  re- 
ferred to  ? 
Mr.  PENN  I  had  a  consultation  with  Mr. 


BRECKINRIDGE  upon  the  manner  in  which  he  was  |!  ter;]  and  so  I  put  it  on  record.  I  did  not  want  to 
to  defend  his  friend  General  Butler,  but  nothing  j ;  hurt  Mr.  Buchanan.  I  had  no  malice  against  him. 
in  relation  to  Mr.  Buchanan.  I  hare  none  now,  but  I  desired  to  be  able  to  show, 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  I  trust  I  may  be  al- '  that  the  sensitiveness  of  the  friends  of  the  "old 
lowed  to  ask  the  gentleman  a  question.  I  ask  the  j ;  fogy  "  candidate  for  the  Presidency  took  no  alarm 
gentleman  from  Louisiana  to  say  whether,  in  any  |  from  newspaper  attacks,  till  the  reply  to  a  news- 
casual  conversation  he  may  have  had  with  me  be-  i  paper  article  gave  them  the  opportunity  to  unite 
fore  I  made  my  speech,  there  was  any  intimation  j  for  the  destruction  of  that  individual  who  was  the 
on  the  part  of  either  of  us,  that  my  speech  was  in-  j :  most  formidable  to  them  all.  I  do  not  believe  that 
tended  to  be  either  an  assault  upon  anybody,  or  a  j !  the  paper  r«pu Wished  at  my  instance,  will  ever  do 


Mr.'Buchanan  any  harm.  The  charges  it  contains 
have  all  been  before  the  country  for  years;  the  ef- 
fect of  them  has  been,  and  I  trust  will  continue  to 
,  be,  that  it  is  not  a  nominee  of  the  Democratic  party 
I  for  the  Presidency  against  whom  they  are  urged; 
!  that  is  what  I  hope. 

As  I  intended  to  say  when  I  was  interrupted,  it 
is  impossible  for  any  man  to  prove  positively  a 
charge  like  that  which  I  have  brought  against  these 
gentlemen^-of  combining  their  interests  to  crush 
their  strongest  opponent.  It  rests  simply  upon 
probability.  It  is  natural.  The  gentleman  from 
j  Kentucky  has  achieved  that  result.  The  friends 

[Laughter.]  If  any  part  of  the  Democratic  party  ! ;  of  all  the  "  old  fogy"  party  are  now  distributing, 
were  trying  (in  the  language  of  Mr.  BREC KIN- ||  in  unexampled  numbers,  the  speech,  which  every 
RIDGE)  "to  fight  out  of  trouble  by  attempting  to 


combination  of  other  candidates  against  one  ? 

Mr.  PENN.    There  was  nothing  of  the  kind. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.     That  is  all. 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Well ,  I  have  had  the  for- 
tune  

Mr.  PENN.  Will  the  gentleman  allow  me  to 
ask  him  a  question  ? 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Not  now.  I  will  answer 
the  question  after  awhile,  voluntarily.  I  am  go- 
ing to  take  up  the  point  it  involves,  though  it 
is  a  very  unimportant  one;  but  I  will  say  in  ad- 
vance, that  I  never  sought  to  injure  Mr.  Buchanan, 
because  I  really  do  not  think  he  is  in  the  race. 


to 

mount  up  on  the  prostrate  bodies  of  all  the  best 
men  in  the  party ,  in  such  a  conflict  Mr.  Buchanan 
would  escape,  as  not  being  worth  the  killing. 
[Laughter.] 

Mr.  PENN.  If  you  talk  of  old  fogies,  I  want 
to  ask,  if  you  did  not,  with  the  Whig  papers,  at- 
tack Mr.  Buchanan;  if  you  did  not  furnish  the 
article  against  Mr.  Buchanan  which  appeared  in 
the  Republic  of  last  Monday? 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  Yes,  sir;  I  did  just  that 
thing.  [Laughter.]  I  had  in  my  possession 

Mr.  PENN.  You  admit  that  you  called  upon 
the  Whigs  to  assist  you  ? 

Mr.  MARSHALL.  I  wish  I  had  more  copies 
of  it,  for  in  the  present  juncture  it  is  likely  to  be 
a  useful  document.  [Laughter.]  I  had  a  Demo- 
cratic paper  in  my  possession,  known  to  be  the 
organ  of  General  Cass  in  Pennsylvania,  a  paper 
which  I  knew  had  been  franked,  broadcast  all  over 
the  country,  by ^Pennsylvania  Democrat  from  the 
other  end  of  this  Capitol,  who  lived  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  who  was,  consequently,  a  better  judge  of 
the  propriety  of  its  circulation  than  I  cowWbe.  This 
Democratic  paper  contained  a  number  of  charges 
against  Mr.  Buchanan,  a  catalogue  abundantly 
long  enough  to  have  occupied  any  stump  speaker 
in  answering,  the  two  hours  that  any  crowd  would 
listen.  MiC  Buchanan's  public  life  has  been  a 
long  one;  there  were  many  curious  passages,  par- 
ticularly scattered  along  the  early  part  of  it. 
[Laughter.]  It  was  a  Democratic  paper,  and  I 
have  every  reason  to  presume,  was  circulated  with 


man  who  reads  it  knows  is  the  most  formidable 
attack  that  could  be  made  upon  Judge  Douglas, 
The  gentleman  from  Louisiana,  I  will  venture  to 
say,  is  a  large  subscriber,  and  has  franked  this 
document  right  and  left,  not  because  it  is  a  vindi- 
cation of  Butler,  but  for  its  attack  upon  the  man 
who  is  recognized  and  feared  as  the  natural  nomi- 
nee of  the  Democratic  Convention.  That  is  what 
gave  to  the  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  Ken- 
tucky its  value.  I  do  not  know  what  other  gen- 
tlemen may  think,  and,  as  I  said  before,  no  man 
is  committed  to  my  own  views;  but  it  appears 
I  to  me  as  if  the  battle  had  now  to  be  fought  be- 
j  tween  the  sections  of  the  party  upon  principle; 
!  that  we  can  scarcely  avoid  an  open,  but,  I  hope,  a 
!  fair  war  between  young  America,  with  its  progres- 
!  sive  doctrines,  and  "Old  Fogyism,"  and  beaten 
I  candidates  with  Retrogression  as  their  motto.  It 
i  is  possible  that  I  may  be  deceived  by  the  spirit 
i  and  temper  of  the  country  from  which  I  come; . 
I  but  I  do  not  believe  the  result  can  be  doubtful.  I 
i  do  not  apprehend  disaster  or  defeat  in  such  a  con- 
j  flict;  and  I,  for  one,  am  willing  to  make  and  meet 
I  the  issue.  It  is  barely  possible  that  some  one  of 
i  the  representatives  of  a  former  age  may  be  nomi- 
1  nated — perhaps  the  favorite  of  the  gentleman  from 
i  Kentucky.  I  say  nothing  here  now,  nor  do  I  pro- 
!  pose  ever  to  say  anything  which  may  make  it 
i  inconsistent  in  me  to  follow  a  banner  with  either 
!  of  the  names  inscribed  upon  it,  which  we  followed 
!  once  before  to  signal  and  glorious — defeat !  If  it 
be  raised  again  with  the  additional  inscription  ex- 
tracted from  the  gentleman's  speech,  andcontain- 
11  '  J  "Retrogression, 


the  approbation  of  General  Cass — at  least,  I  have  I  ing  its  whole  spirit  in  two  words — -  rv-ei-rugrtrssiuii, 

„„ — ~u  -™~~.,  *~  »u:~i,  . —   „„  i »„  —  ' Anti-Progress " — some   of  the  Democracy  (and  I 

• .  .  ,.  *  i  • 


as  much  reason  to  think  so,  as  you  have  to  pre- 
sume that  Mr.  Douglas  was  connected  with  the 
Review;  under  these  circumstances,  I  felt  that  I 
had  a  perfect  right  to  circulate  that  document.  But 
I  had  a  more  capricious  reason,  more  influential 
with  me  than  any  other.  The  Republic  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  collect  and  collate  the  various  attacks 
made  by  the  various  organs  of  the  various  Dem- 
ocratic candidates  for  the  Presidency  upon  each 
other.  This  document  was  wanting  to  complete 
the  record,  and  to  made  a  perfect  exhibition  of  the 
state  into  which  the  party  had  got  itself;  [laugh- 


among  them)  will  follow  even  those  colors,  but  it 
will  be  with  muffled  drums,  by  the  left  flank,  in 
great  confusion,  and  to  the  melancholy  wail  of  the 
dead  march. 

It  was  my  design,  but  it  is  one  which  I  shaH 
not  have  time  to  execute  under  this  unfortunate 
one  hour  rule,  to  have  examined,  carefully  and 
thoughtfully,  the  sneering  insinuations  of  the  gen- 
tleman in  regard  to  this  doctrine  of  progress,  and 
to  explain  and  defend  the  true  Democratic  doc- 
trine. Every  one  who  heard  that  speech  knows, 


6 


and  all  who  read  it  will  find,  that  there  is  in  it  no 
statement  of  the  gentleman's  conception  of  pro- 
gress. He  says — and  makes  it  ludicrous  by  the 
art  of  the  rhetorician,  combined  with  stage  trick 
and  great  knowledge  of  stage  effect — that  we  want 
"  to  hunt  up  some  imaginary  genius,  and  place 
him  on  a  new  policy,  give  him  young  America 
as  a  fulcrum,  and  let  him  turn  the  world  upside 
down."  Now,  I  cannot  reason  with* a  proposi- 
tion like  that.  I  have  never  consulted  with  Judge 
DOUGLAS  as  to  what  his  opinion  is  on  the  relative 
position  of  the  two  sides  of  the  world,  but  I  have 
no  doubt  but  he  is  perfectly  sound  upon  that  ques- 
tion. [Laughter.]  And  from  a  somewhat  careful 
examination  of  his  political  writings,  and  a  good 
deal  of  conversation  with  him  upon  general  topics, 
I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  he  has  no  intention 
to  disturb  the  equilibrium  of  the  physical  universe. 
[Laughter.]  But  he  does  cherish  an  idea,  how- 
ever, that  the  United  States  are  not  now  absolutely 
finished,  and  ready  to  be  enclosed  and  painted. 
[Laughter.]  He  has  looked  back,  and  looking 
carefully  and  thoughtfully  over  the  history  of  the 
human  race,  he  has  found  no  system  of  law,  or 
condition  of  society,  perfect;  there  has  never  been 
any  political  system  in  which  there  was  not  room 
for  improvement.  This  is  a  conclusion  to  which, 
I  think,  all  thoughtful  minds  will  come,  which 
every  serious  and  contemplative  student  of  history 
must  approve.  He  thinks  that  the  United  States, 
great  as  they  are,  rich  as  they  are,  powerful  as 
they  are,  and  free  as  they  are,  may  become  yet 
freer,  richer,  more  powerful,  and  more  extended 
than  they  are,  with  perfect  safety,  and  under  the 
Constitution .  He  thinks  that  the  rank  of  this  Gov- 
ernment in  the  scale  of  nations  may  be  elevated. 
He  thinks,  and  the  progressive  Democracy  main- 
tain, that  it  is  possible  to  hold  a  more  influential 

position  among  the  peoples  of  the  world  than  it  jj  by  the  Mississippi  upon  the  one  side,  by 
v  does.     This  is  a  hasty  and  imperfect  sketch  j|  iana  upon  another,  by  the  Lakes  and  by 


of  his  opinions  of  progress;  and  with  his  eye 
steadily  fixed  upon  the  Constitution,  as  that  of  the 
mariner  on  the  compass,  he  would  steer  for  each 
worthy  object  that  will  promote  the  prosperity, 
develop  the  resources,  sustain  the  power,  and 
augment  the  glory  of  the  whole  Union.  Those 
are  his  opinions  of  progress;  and  they  are  mine. 
This  is  nothing  like  turning  the  world  upside  down; 
we  seek  no  innovation  upon  the  Constitution;  but 
we  seek  to  progress  under  the  Constitution,  and 
with  the  Constitution.  The  whole  history  of  the 
United  States  is  a  history  of  progress — physical, 
geographical  progress — intellectual,  moral,  civil, 
social,  and  political  progress.  The  internal  idea, 
the  abstract  notion  of  better  things,  the  hope  of 
freedom,  the  determination  to  resist  oppression, 
all  that  active  principle  which  makes  a  great 
country  and  a  great  people,  have  wrought  with- 
out ceasing  in  the  American  mind.  Would  <remle- 
men  who  are  afraid  of  progress  stop  this  ?  Would 
gentlemen  arrest  it?  Do  gentlemen  desire  or 
believe  it  possible  to  check  the  free  current  of 
thought?  This  is  not  metaphysics  or  nonsense. 
It  is  a  fact,  which  every  man  who  looks  back  for 
a  moment  to  the  philosophy  of  the  history  of  the 
country,  must  recognize  and  subscribe  to.  The 
gentleman,  in  the  defense  of  a  rotten  conservatism, 
seeks  authority  in  the  epitaphs  of  our  honored 
ancestors;  but  the  inscriptions  are  in  a  character  ! 
unknown  to  him.  He  reads  them  falsely.  He  ' 


I  j  which  those  grave-yards  teach  to  the  careful  and 
'i  disinterested  inquirer.      There  is  no  sermon  on 
j!  progress  so  eloquent  as  to  stand  and  reflect,  earn- 
j.'  estly  and  honestly,  by  the  side  of  the  grave  of 
[  the  Father  of  his  Country.     And  in  these  irritable 
!  times,  I  would  recommend  to  politicians  an  occa- 
i  sional  visit  to  Mount  Vernon,  to  soothe  their  ex- 
|  cited  feelings,  and  calm  them  for  the   grave  con- 
j  sideration  of  principles.  We  learn  from  the  history 
i  of  the  fathers  of  this  country,  and  most  of  all 
I  from  the  life  of  him  who  was  the  most  illustrious 
•  of  all,  that  progress  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen. 
|  Did  they  not  progress  ?    Look  at  their  movements. 
|  The  grandest,  the  most  august  Revolution   that 
i  any  mortal  man,  or  any  set  of  men,  ever  under- 
!  took,  they  accomplished.     But  their  views  were 
I  necessarily  limited.      They  did   enough  for  one 
I  generation,  and  more  than  any  generation  before, 
;  or  since,  have  ever  accomplished;  but  did  not  do 
I  all.     They  left  much  undone.     What  was  their 
!  mission  ?     What  was  the  evil  they  were  called  to 
!  remedy  ?    The  eyes  of  the  men  of  the  Revolution 
'j  were   directed   towards   Europe.    They   had    no 
[jealousy  but  upon  one  subject,  and  that  was,  Euro- 
!  pean  interference.     They  sought  the  independence 
i  of  these  States,  and  they  sought  little  else.     To 
I  make  their  own  laws,  and  impose  their  own  taxes, 
i  and  regulate  their  domestic  affairs,  according  to 
J  laws  enacted  by  representatives  they  themselves 
would  choose — that  was  as  far  as  they  went,  and 
as  far  as  they  could  be  expected  to  go.     But  the 
condition   of  the  country  at  the  successful  con- 
clusion of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  as  wholly 
different,  and  the  then  policy  and  opinions  of  men 
were  as  clearly  distinguishable  from  those  now 
entertained,  as  ours  are  from  the  policy  and  opin- 
ions of  the  Chinese. 

The  territory  of  the  Union  was  narrow;  limited 

Louis- 
the  At- 


lantic. Why,  it  was  scarcely  larger  than  a  pre- 
emption claim,  in  these  days  of  expanded  liberality 
on  the  subject  of  public  lands.  It  was  a  narrow 
tract.  They  aimed  to  give  it  dignity  by  peopling 
it  with  brave  and  free  men.  They  thought  of  it 
only  as  a  small  star,  a  bright  spot  upon  the  sur- 
face of  that  continent,  which  neither  their  ambition 
or  policy  embraced.  They  never  dreamed  of  the 
vast  and  glorious  constellation  which  was  to  glitter 
around  it;  their  policy  consequently  could  not  be 
the  same  as  ours.  Progress  was  the  very  condi- 
tion of  the  existence  of  the  next  generation.  There 
were  found  conservative  gentlemen  in  that  day 
who  opposed  the  first  step  of  progress  after  the 
revolutionary  war  was  closed,  who  were  afraid  the 
world  was  agoing  to  be  turned  upside  down  by 
every  reform.  When  the  debates  arose  upon  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana — and  we  all  know  with 
what  heat  those  debates  were  carried  on — there 
was  no  want  of  politicians  to  declare  it  unconsti- 
tutional, and  a  violation  of  the  principle  and  doc- 
trines of  our  revolutionary  ancestors.  The  most 
radical  Democrat  of  that  day,  the  author  and 
founder  of  progressive  Democracy,  doubted  if 
under  the  Constitution  any  territory  could  be 
added  to  the  Union.  The  same  sort  of  appeals 
and  arguments  were  made  then  as  now.  Every 
reform,  every  advance  which  the  nation  has  made, 
has  been  opposed  by  the  same  conservatism  which 
would  now  paraly/.e  the  national  energy.  There 


does  not  take  the  magnificent  and  inspiring  lessons  1|  is  nobody  now  who  questions  the  propriety  of 


the  purchase  of  that  territory,  or  the  annexation  of 
that  more  important  territory,  which  has  been  ac- 
quired since.  The  policy  has  vindicated  itself  in 
its  triumphant  experience. 

But  there  is  another  sort  of  progress,  to  which 
I  have  before  alluded,  and  the  idea  of  which  I 


that  be  tolerated  now?  Will  any  conservative 
gentleman  say  that  that  principle  of  our  venerated 
revolutionary  fathers  can  be  taken  up,  and  de- 
fended before  the  people  now  ?  Does  the  gentleman 
fear  to  get  rid  of  a  principle  like  that? — one  which 
deprived  half  the  people  of  some  of  the  States  of 


with  Mexico.     Scarcely  one  of  those  volunteers 
would  have  been  a  voter  under  the  old  revolution- 


ry principle. 
Mr.  BREC 


would  wish  to  develop,  because  it  constitutes  a  |;  any  interest  in  the  Government?  Why,  sir,  prac- 
great  national  characteristic.  There  is  another  i  tical  experience  and  a  moment's  consideration 
sort  of  progress.  What  I  have  adverted  to  and  .  show,  that  to  do  away  with  that  was  a  safe  exper- 
illustrated,  is  mere  physical  and  geographical  ad-  intent.  Look  at  the  achievements — the  glorious 
vancement.  1  have,  as  yet,  only  spoken  of  the  ||  achievements  of^our  volunteer  ^forces  in  the  war 
acquisition  of  territory.  1  allude  now  to  that  pro- 
gress which  has  enlarged  and  liberated  the  Amer- 
ican mind  since  the  days  of  the  great  patriots 
of  the  Revolution,  constituting  in  itself  a  revolu- 
tion as  important  as  that  which  liberated  the  colo- 
nies from  Britisk  oppression.  There  has  been 

going  on  in  the  human  mind  and  the  human  heart,  |  and  I  cannot  let  you  say  a  word.  [Laughter.] 
through  all  that  series  of  years,  revolutions,  each  !j  Would  our  army  have  been  furnished  with  such 
and  all  of  them  of  vast  importance.  There  rushes  J!  soldiers  if  it  had  not  been  that  each  shoulder  that 
upon  the  mind  and  memory  of  every  man  a  ihou-  ;  sustained  a  musket  consciously  sustained,  at  the 
sand  illustrations  of  what  I  mean.  It  was  good  !  same  time,  the  fabric  of  the  Government  at  home? 
old  Democratic  doctrine — a  conservative  and  safe  j  Each  man  felt  that  he  was  fighting  for  and  in  de- 
doctrine — that  the  highest  power  in  this  country,  j1  fense  of  the  Government  he  had  aided  to  construct, 
the  power  upon  which  men's  lives,  property,  and  []  and  in  which  he  had  a  part. 


BRECKINRIDGE.    Will  the  gentleman 
allow  me  to  say  a  word? 

Mr.  MARSHALL.     My  time  is  nearly  out, 


reputation  depended,  should  hold  its  unapproach- 
able and  inaccessible  position   within  the  inner 


Well  now,  the  progress  of  which  this  is  an  illus- 
tration, is  the  kind  that  Young  America  contends 


temple;  that  the  judiciary,  unlike  the  legislative  jj  for.  You  cannot  put  dov/n  what  is  natural  and 
or  any  other  power  in  the  country,  should  be  irre-  fj  ought  to  exist;  and  whatever  abuses  ought  to  be 
sponsible  to  that  people  from  whom  their  power,  overthrown  will  be  overthrown;  because  when 
was  legitimately  derived;  that  they  should  not  !|  once  the  human  mind  is  awakened — when  once 
be  elected  by  the  people.  An  elective  judiciary?  ij  men  begin  to  think  upon  subjects  like  this,  you 
Such  a  heresy  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution  would  jj  might  as  well  attempt  to  control  the  human  con- 
have  raised  an  outcry  from  all  our  assembled  rev-  j'  science,  which  leads  us  to  God  himself,  as  that 
olutionary  ancestors".  Nearly  all  the  States  in  \\  other  motive  principle,  which  leads  us  to  liberty] 
the  Union  have  made  this  change  in  their  consti-  |i  Men  will  work  out  for  themselves  a  more  perfect 
tutions.  It  has  resulted  from  a  gradual  but  con-  ||  system.  It  is  a  spirit  more  active,  more  real  than 
stant  pressure  of  public  opinion,  which  was  irre- 
sistible. 

There  are  other  illustrations;  one  more  stri- 
king than  this.  There  was  a  law  which  existed 
in  every  one  of  the  old  thirteen  States,  and  many 
others — a  law  which  was  approved  by  our  revolu- 
tionary fathers,  and  acted  upon  by  them;  a  law 
which  took  away  all  discrimination  or  distinction 
between  guilt  and  misfortune;  a  law  which  incar- 


cerated the  debtor  in  the  same  prison  with  the 
felon;  which  placed  the  man,  from  whom  accident 
may  have  taken  a  fortune,  or  who  had  incurred 
obligations  which  Providence  may  have  made  it 
impossible  to  meet,  upon  a  level  with  the  thief;  a 
law  which  gave  into  the  hands  of  a  single  indi- 
vidual in  this  country  the  power,  by  process  of 
law,  to  imprison  and  disfranchise  a  fellow  citizen, 
guilty  of  no  crime,  and  to  make  the  victim,  by  the 
oppressor's  own  act,  incapable  for  life  of  ever 
escaping:  from  this  thraldom — the  power  to  sepa- 
rate husband  and  wife,  the  father  from  his  family, 
to  spread  desolation  and  ruin  through  those  homes 
which,  in  all  civilized  society,  should  be  sacred. 
The  law  I  allude  to  is  imprisonment  for  debt;  a 


gentlemen  generally  choose  to  think.  It  is  one 
which  must~be  appealed  to  in  all  political  contests. 
It  is  one  which  we  were  beaten  for  not  consulting 
once  before.  We  must  find  a  candidate  who  is  a 
national  man.  In  the  language  of  this  Review — 
and  most  of  the  ideas  of  it  I  indorse  to  the  fullest 
extent — in  the  language  of  this  Review,  the  Demo- 
cratic nomination  must  mean  something.  It  must 
be  a  man  who  is  able  to  create  national  sympa- 
thy— who  can  understand  the  people,  and  can 
make  the  people  understand  him.  A  man  whose 
history,  cha/acter,  mind,  position,  and  opinions 
are  all  popular,  must  be  selected,  or  we  will  inevi- 
tably, in  my  opinion,  be  beaten;  and  we  shall  de- 
serve to  be  beaten  when  we  have  got  such  a  man 
in  our  ranks  and  do  not  select  him.  There  is  no 
character  with  which  I  haA'e  become  acquainted 
in  American  politics  that  has  such  strong  points 
of  sympathy  for  the  people  as  that  of  Judge 
DOUGLAS.  I  am  not  here  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
nouncing a  eulogium  on  him,  though  I  should  like 
to  do  that  very  much,  if  I  had  time;  but  I  shall 
not  stop  to  do  more  than  just  to  point  out  the  ele- 
ments of  success  in  a  popular  contest  which  this 


la\v  which  public  opinion  would  not  now  tolerate  'j  man  has  about  him.  He  was  a  poor  boy,  sprung 
in  any  State  in  the  Union.  These  illustrations  '  from  the  midst  of  the  people — a  mechanic,  passing 
exhibit  the  extent  and  direction  of  the  progress  of  I  the  earlier  years  of  his  life  in  the  best  training  that 
the  American  mind.  There  is  another  illustration  !  is  possible  to  discipline  the  character  and  make  a 
of  the  same  principle.  In  the  revolutionary  times,  '  man  popular,  fashioning  his  conceptions  of  utility 
and  long  after,  in  nearly  all  of  the  States  of  the  and  art  from  the  materials  of  nature — a  dignified 
Union,  to  be  a  free  white  citizen  gave  none  of  the  j  way  of  saying  that  a  man  was  a  cabinet-maker, 
privileges  of  a  citizen.  Property  was  made  the  j  [Laughter.]  He  was  the  best  cabinet-maker,  as 
oasis  of  the  elective  franchise — a  property  qualifi-  Ji  he  has  been  the  best  at  everything  he  has  under- 
cation.  It  was  so  universally,  at  one  time.  Would  ||  taken.  He  took  a  medal  for  it,  and  that  medal 


8 


should  be  hung  round  his  neck  alongside  of  that 
California  watch  which  he  received  for  his  emi- 
nent services  to  that  State  in  the  agitation  of  the 
compromise  measures;  and  the  two  would  reflect 
glory  upon  each  other.  T  should  hold  that  medal, 
if  it  were  mine,  given  to  me  as  the  best  cabinet- 
maker, a  prouder  mark  of  honor  and  a  higher  dis- 
tinction than  any  cross  which  ever  glittered  on 
the  breast  of  a  soldier.  I  reckon  the  triumphs  of 
peace  as  far  more  glorious  than  those  of  war.  A 
little  later,  we  find"  him  a  lawyer,  and  the  best 
lawyer,  the  most  successful,  and  having  the  best 
business.  Progressing  safely  and  regularly,  by 
dint  of  force  and  merit,  we  see  the  poor  cabinet- 
maker passing  through  the  experiences  of  a  bar- 
rister and  taking  his  place  on  the  district  bench  of 
his  State.  The  best  of  the  judges  on  that  bench, 
he  was  promoted  to  a  higher  judicial  tribunal. 
Singular  and  uninterrupted  success  has  crowned 
his  whole  life.  The  distracted  and  disorganized 
Democracy  of  his  own  State,  knowing  his  pow- 
er, called  him  from  the  bench  'o  complete  iu< 
organization.  He  did  complete  it,  and  there  is 
noj  now  a  Democracy  in  all  the  States  of  the 
Union — unless  it  be  that  of  California — that  is 
more  united  than  the  Democracy  of  the  State 


of  his  adoption.      Taking  his   place  upon   this 

floor,  who  won  more  laurels  ?    Who  was   more 

j  distinguished    here?     No    man  in   this   House. 

|  Steady  to  this  principle  of  safe  and  regular  pro- 

:  gress,  notice  the  other  step  in  his  career.     As 

he  had  passed  from  a  barrister  to  a  judge,  and 

|  from  an  inferior  to  a  more  important  tribunal,  he 

:  passed  from  this  House  to  the  other  branch  «if 

i  Congress,  where  he  has  seen  more  triumphs  than 

!  any  man  of  his  age  had  ever  done  before,  or  than 

i  any  man  has  done  in  that  House  since  he  has  had 

a  seat  there. 

And  now,  having  scarcely  reached  the  middle 
of  a  protracted  life,  he  stands  the  most  prominent, 
I  as  I  believe  he  is  the  most  meritorious,  of  all  the 
candidates  of. the  Democratic  party  for  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  United  States.     Take  this  man  as  I 
have  described  him — and  described  without  exag- 
geration— raise  the  flag  for  him  inscribed  with  these 
opinions  and  doctrines,  spread  them  ftver  the  coun- 
try, arid  I  give  you  my  word  that  there  will  spring 
i  up  in  the  American  Jieart,  from  one  end  of  this 
j'  continent  to  the  other, 'ah   enthusiasm  which  will 

I  make  his  election  and  our  success  absolutely  cer- 
tain. 

II  [Here  the  Chairman's  hammer  fell.] 


Printed  at  the  Globe  Office,  Washington. 


IMuSSS 


